Education Under the Stars

There is something special about sitting underneath the summer stars. The cool nighttime air, combined with glistening spots of light dancing in the shadowed sky, seem to be the right environment for deep thought, and even deeper conversations.

I like to go out at night and sit in my front yard. We have a wide open view of the sky. I love to take off my shoes, and run my feet through the coolness of the grass, while I stare up at the Heavens. I take a blanket with me, and I am able to fully relax and ponder, as I contemplate the Cosmos.

Sometimes I even see a shooting star, or two!

Sammi will often come outside, with a blanket in hand, and join me. The other night she sat by me, and as we began to talk, the conversation of physical intimacy in marriage came up. (We have been watching a lot of Doris Day movies that have prompted questions. The old movies are a lot more suggestive than I remember!?)

I talk about all sorts of things -- often and openly -- with my family, but this time the conversation was a little more deep and detailed. Sammi is no longer a child, and her questions are no longer childlike.

One thing we talked about, were the challenges that can be present during sexual intimacy, in the first year of marriage. I did not give her too many details, but I gave her quite a bit of information. My emphasis was mostly on how beautiful that relationship can be, and that it is something to look forward to, but it is not always smooth sailing. We discussed a lot of things, but the details of our discussion, are best left under the stars.

Sammi seemed grateful for the openness of our conversation, it was not awkward, or weird, at all. But then again, this is Sammi we are talking about; I talk with her about pretty much everything.

During this particular conversation, I did feel a little twinge (a big twinge) of longing for the life I once had with Charles. I certainly did not plan on having that kind of intimacy ripped from my life, at such a young age. I will not talk much about it here, it is not the place. But, yes, I miss that part of life and love, as you can imagine.

Intimacy in marriage -- and not just physical intimacy -- is, truly, a beautiful thing.

I think as children get older, they should be educated more and more on sexual intimacy, and not left in the dark about such things. The "birds and the bees" conversation should not just be a one time thing brought up in health class in elementary school, and then never talked about again. The more information that children get from parents -- rather than other questionable sources -- the better off they can be. Children feel more empowered knowing real information, from a reliable source. (Whether or not I am a reliable source on the topic, might be questionable.)  ;)

Our conversation was in a comfortable, no-stress environment. It made the experience beautiful, instead of brutal. I am sure there are many more such conversations to come with her, and my boys too. I talk just as openly with the boys.

I asked Sammi, just now, what she thought of our conversation. She said with a sarcastic giggle:

"It was educational."

What can I say?

You can learn a lot under the stars.

A Chalkboard Wall and Other Happenings

We have spent the last few weeks covered in different kinds of paint. I have felt more of a desire to be creative this summer, and so that is what we have been doing. It started with a few wooden signs, and then we moved to larger projects, like painting furniture and walls. 

The kids have been super helpful, and Sammi has particularly enjoyed the painting and home improvement projects. There was one night when we were hanging pictures on the wall, and her eyes glistened with excitement, and she said, "I love this!" She was so excited to make our house more "our home." 

One of my favorite things in the world is "making home." 

So, let's get right to the pictures of life... 

I kind of passed over Father's day on the blog. It was not really on purpose, it just kind of happened. It was not a super melancholy day or anything this year, thank goodness. We took some time during the day to watch old home videos, so we could soak in some memories with Charles, and all I felt was joy that he was and always will be, mine. Oh man, I love him SO MUCH! His influence as a father is still with my children. I try to teach them things he would want me to teach them. 

Here is Henry with the tie he made for his daddy at church. When he got home, Sammi asked who he was going to give it to, and he said, "I am giving it to you, Sammi." 

On Father's day, we had Megan over to practice her music for church. I think that is part of what made that day so much more enjoyable. It was filled with music and Megan. ;)

I saw on FB that a family in our ward was getting rid of a table. I wasn't sure what I would do with the table, but I jumped on the opportunity, not knowing why I felt so strongly that I should.

 After a few days, I knew what to do with the table... we painted it.

 Look at those crazy colors!

The purpose of the table was to create it for the playroom. We used chalkboard paint for the top of the table. The paint was at both Home Depot and Fred Meyer. Here is Sammi priming the table after the paint was finished. After a few days of letting the paint dry, you rub chalk all over it, wipe it off, and then it is ready to use! 

We put the table downstairs in the playroom, and the kids have loved it! 

I just want to give my kiddos more places in our home to be creative. 

We had some good rain and storms again. It is always so refreshing when it rains. I just love it.

 And another rainbow... so many this season!

 I love the earth right after rain.

 The sun always shines out the clearer after a storm.

 Sun and rain at the same time.

We decided to paint some of our walls. They had become so dirty with little fingerprints -- it was time! We went with a dark color brown called, "Moose Tracks." I know a lot of homes have a light and airy open floor plan space nowadays, but I prefer warmer colors, with cozy rooms. I fell in love with the old bungalows and brick homes back when we lived in Spokane. That is the kind of home feeling I love the most. Warm and cozy. I am trying to create that feeling more in my home here, but I still have a dream home in mind for the future. If not in this life, in the next.

Here is William helping to paint the stairway. If we ever move, I will hire a professional to come and paint my whole house with perfection, but for now... it was painted with family love.

 Here are some examples of Spokane South Hill style homes that I love...










I miss Spokane, it has this deep special place in my heart. I learned what types of things I loved when I lived there, because what I loved was all around me to breathe in and experience. I have never felt that same way about Idaho as a place to live, but Idaho does have a charm all its own.

So, we decided to take our chalkboard paint to a wall in our entry way. We have this little weird cove area that we use mostly as a computer space. We had to sand the wall down a bit to remove some of the texture, that was fun. Not so much.

 Sammi chalk painted a little table in her room.

 We were just covered in paint most of the time.

We finished our stairway and added pictures up the wall. I know the rule is you should not paint stairways dark colors, but I love it. And I certainly do not follow the rules, when it comes to my home decorating. I do need to replace my light fixture in the upstairs hallway. I want to get a bit of track lighting so I can aim the light on the pictures.

 We had to take the table apart to fit it through the doorway, and William was our handyman for that job. He likes to take stuff apart and put it back together. I tried to let him help with things along the way.

Here is Sammi chalking up the whole wall to prepare it. I think she enjoyed that process.

 Do you know how worried I was after painting the wall black? Ummm... yeah, scary.

 Then she wiped it all down.

And I LOVE it!! It looks awesome! We plan to use it as a place for quotes, and our calendar. (The table is for art and random coloring.) So much fun!!

The table really is such a fun addition to the home. And it was free except for the paint!

 More storm chasing...

 I love to roll the windows down and just soak in the warm summer air.

 I came down one day to find this on the table...

 It was a car race. And the boys were playing so well together. It made me happy. :)

But what about the chalk dust? Isn't it yucky? Well, I find that using a rag, rather than an eraser, is way better for wipe-down time.

 Just hanging out in the tree.

 Sammi saw the sunset looking like this, and she said, "Mom, let's get in the car and chase it!"

 And so we did...

 We live in a beautiful world.

 Just driving around at night.

More painting and sanding.

 We've been watching The Great British Baking Show. It's entertaining. And it makes me hungry.

 A very lovely walk by the river.

 I was rather proud of my Olaf. It might even be at a fourth grade art level. ;)

 Sunflower.

 It smells amazing by the water. The kids always love to throw rocks.

 Just taking a break to read.

 Who needs professional bakes, when you can just slap frosting on a graham cracker?

I shared a little incident that happened with our van...



Our van was towed away to the mechanic to be fixed, because the wire did do some damage. There is always something going on, you know? Other than costing some money, it should not be too much of a problem, and it could've been much worse. And the AAA guy happened to have a battery in his big truck that worked for my little car, so he slapped that in there for me for the cost of the battery (my battery had died in that car from sitting too long). So I was not without a working car for even a minute. I signed up for AAA months ago when I was traveling to Utah more often. I found out today, it works!


Life is good, even when bad things happen. I have found that something good often comes from the bad, so I try and look for it. I had one of those kind of days where I could see the little miracles, and I find myself very grateful that God cares about the details -- even the very small details -- of my life.

Also, I got tickets to see Newsies at the Hale theater in Utah, while we are there for a few days. My family is SO excited. It is one of our family favorites. I was introduced to Hale theater, because I was willing to go on a date with a guy in Utah. Even though it did not work out with the guy, we have seen some amazing productions at that theater, and so there you go... there is always something good!

I can't wait to see it!

"Courage cannot erase our fears, courage is when we face our fears." - Newsies. 

Click: HERE for more at Hale.


All of this creativity is paying off! Henry threw all of the stuffed animals and pillows on the floor, he called it a "river," and he enjoyed running through it.


Oh, and where is Daniel, you ask? He is living it up at Scout Camp, he is working at the rock wall, and doing all sorts of fun and crazy things.








Good times.